I Can Go the Distance (and I did!)

Hi there, readers! Believe it or not, I’m actually writing this post while in the Orlando airport. I’m getting ready to return home (just for a few days!) before driving back down to Orlando for my DCP! So wait, why was I in Florida a week before my program started?

Well, as you may have guessed if you follow me on social media, I was actually in WDW for the last few days! This wasn’t a typical Disney trip though — most of my family actually ran the half marathon during the RunDisney marathon weekend...including me!

The half-marathon was on Saturday, January 11th. Although RunDisney races are absolutely all about fun and having a good time, there’s a lot that goes into it! We had to catch a bus from the hotel to the race area at 3:30am. Although the official race started at 5:30am, I didn’t actually cross the starting line until around 6:15am due to being in a later corral. Despite enduring some fatigue and typical pain, I truly enjoyed every moment of the 13.1 miles. There was nothing quite like running down Main Street U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom, looping around, and going under the castle with hundreds of people cheering you on! This was around mile 6 of the race, but it definitely got me through the rest. In the last mile of the race, we ran through Epcot which was just as exhilarating and motivational. I cannot speak highly enough of the race! It was very well orchestrated with lots of fun surprises along the way. I see more RunDisney events in my future!

In preparation for the race, rest days are recommended on the days before and after with little activity. However, even though I knew I’d be back down in WDW in just over a week, I of course didn’t want to skip out on any park time. I ended up spending the days before and after the half=marathon in the parks, walking about 25,000 steps each of these two days! It definitely was a little difficult waking up early for the half-marathon with my feet already being sore, but the pain was worth the gain!

I carefully planned our park days, dining reservations, and other events so that we could hit all four parks in two days. It was a jam-packed trip, but we did have some good R&R time too. We had a split-stay with our vacation starting at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and ending at the Grand Floridian. Many thanks to my mom and brother Shane for booking the resorts (and especially to my mom for being a DVC member so that we are lucky enough to stay in these incredible places!). Some of my park highlights included rope-dropping Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios in the early morning with no wait times and seeing Happily Ever After in person (finally!) at the Magic Kingdom. We also had our share of good food (after all, we were going to burn it all off anyway in the race, right?). Like usual, Sanaa did not disappoint and I was also excited to finally try the Tonga Toast at Kona!

Well, I think that just about wraps up my brief WDW trip update! By the time this is posted, I’ll be back home in PA for a few days before coming back to my new home for the next several months. Be sure to look out for my last pre-DCP blog post coming later this week! I just may have some very exciting news that I’m waiting to share until then… :) Thanks for reading!

See ya real soon,

Maddi